The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

The elementary school I attended was staffed by the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth. Their habit included a rectangular headpiece with white fluted perimeter and a long thin black veil. Some kids were brave enough to lift the back of the veil when the nun passed by their desk. You see that boxy headdress provided almost no peripheral vision. I often wondered how they got that fluted white border to be so stiff. It must have kept them busy on the weekends.

 Now they also wore very long rosary beads that hung from their side. A really daring pupil would lift up his desk top—remember those old desks—and try to catch sister’s beads as she went up the aisle. That never ended well. In late 1961 a much more sensible headpiece replaced the “box” and allowed the sisters to see much better—and catch any culprits.

By the late-70’s the sisters abandoned the traditional habit for everyday clothing. This change to their garb and other trends in religious life drastically reduced their number from what it was up to and including the 1950’s and 60’s when as many forty young women donned the habit every year.

 Over time a big divide emerged between religious orders that perceived the traditional habit and rule of life to be a channel of separation between them and the laity and those that saw the habit as a sign of their obedience to Christ and their separation from the secular life.

 There were other issues at play like the kind of ministry in which sisters are now engaged, very different from those who staffed Catholic schools for years. Some may live in the thick of a ghetto running a half-way house, or working in a hospital, homeless shelter, and are even higher education. Traditional orders are committed to prayer and fasting and cloistered from society.

The way religious life evolved for these women reminds me of today’s story. For many years the Church has suggested that Martha and Mary are models for the active versus contemplative life, giving a higher regard for the latter. That is a big mistake and an incorrect read of this text.

Putting the story in context, hospitality was among the highest and noblest expressions of faithfulness in the time of Jesus. The Genesis reading refers to the hospitality Abraham and Sarah offered their three visitors, who by the way, represent the three persons of the Trinity. So we see how hospitality was an important value of the culture and hospitality is about and builds relationships.

Jesus cares about our relationships—with God and one another. What is a wonderful meal, served with care and grace, if we have to eat it in solitude, without the company of family, friends and good conversation? Still, we may stumble over and struggle with this thing about Mary’s “choosing the better part.”

What we have here is a translation glitch. The original Greek, in which the Gospels were written was τὴν ἀγαθὴν μερίδα translated properly as “Mary is playing the good part or portion,” accent on the word “part.”

The word μερίδα (merida) is particularly rich—it means “portion” or “share,” and in Jewish tradition it often referred to one’s spiritual share in the study of Torah. So when Jesus says this, it’s a profound affirmation of Mary’s spiritual insight.

It’s not that Martha’s part is bad, just that Martha is playing her part and Mary is playing hers. Each role is different, and each role is good and a necessary part of discipleship. And If I were one of their guests, I’d be very pleased that Martha was fussing in the kitchen. I’d be looking forward to delicious meal.

Actually, there are three characters in this story: Mary, Martha, and Jesus and what we have here is an example of a radically counter-cultural violation: that a woman would sit at the feet of a single man—a rabbi, no less—and be instructed in faith.

Martha’s worry may have been the ramifications of these single women inviting a man into their home and sitting down to have conversation with him—something that was extremely taboo and could get them quite a reputation in the town of Bethany.

Could the better part Mary chose have been about her willingness to ignore the norms of a society that treated women as second-class citizens? To claim her rightful place as a beloved child of God at the feet of God’s Son?

Is this an example of the struggle in the church throughout the centuries over the roles of women in the Church? I think that assumption has merit.

This story teaches us that we must learn to be whole, to do both the everyday life things and to set aside time to reflect and hear what God is saying to us. It’s a mistake to say Martha work is second rate.

Jesus was just reminding Martha not to be cranky while serving her guests. That’s just not good hospitality. He was suggesting that she just “chill out.”

Yes, we are also distracted by many things. In the end, the “one thing” that is needed is to be open to the challenge to play whatever part God has given each of us whether we are more inclined to be Martha or Mary. We really don’t have to choose. We just need to serve, unapologetically, in the roles to which we are called.

When we do that, and do it well and faithfully, we discover that it is the good part.